Mangano, Legislators Ford & Kopel Announce Notification System For Residents Near Sewer Treatment Plants

Residents can register for notifications of all reportable events

Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano and Legislators Denise Ford and Howard J. Kopel announced today the creation of a new notification system designed to notify residents about reportable incidents at the County’s sewer treatment facilities. Events such as heavy rains and large storms similar to the ones that have affected Nassau County this year have the potential to cause overflows in the County sewage system which may overflow onto the street or into the bays.

“Since taking office, we have invested tens of millions of dollars in reversing the damage created by decades of neglect at Nassau County’s sewer treatment plants,” said County Executive Mangano. “After discussions with community leaders and Legislators Ford and Kopel, I have directed the County to create a communications notification system to help protect our residents and keep them informed of problems that occur at these facilities. While we continue to work tirelessly to improve the operations at these plants, there is more work to be done due to past neglect.”

The communications system announced today allows residents to sign up for Public Informational Updates through the Nassau County website (shown here). The system will become live on October 25, 2011. Accordingly, residents will be notified within four hours of any reportable incident which results in a wastewater spill in any waterways near the Bay Park, Cedar Creek or Glen Cove sewer treatment plants. Those registered will receive an email notification from the Nassau County Department of Public Works when there is an incident that is required to be reported to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

Legislator Howard J. Kopel stated, “After years of neglect, I am pleased that we have made such great strides in upgrading our sewage system. This notification policy will add another layer of transparency for our neighbors.”

The Nassau County Department of Health (DOH) has also established a telephone hotline, (516) 227-9700, for residents to call to determine if any event has caused the DOH to take any precautionary steps, such as ordering the closure of local beaches.

“Our bathers and fisherman need to know if and when the quality of our water is potentially compromised,” said Legislator Ford. “The new notification system finally provides a method for informing the public of potential incidents and efforts to fix the problem immediately.”